Rest assured, I am not a “positivity freak,” or even one that fully buys into the power of positive thinking on its own merit. But I do believe the following proverb is true:
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
Proverbs 23:7
Thus, if you think negative thoughts, you will be a negative person, and if you think positive thoughts you will be a positive person. Sort of. Just thinking something doesn’t make it so. You have to believe it to feel it. Of course believing something doesn’t necessarily make it true either.
That’s where faith comes in to play.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1
We can think positive thoughts, and we can believe or hope positive things will happen, but there is no substance to our attempts absent faith. Faith is what happens when all hope seems in vain, yet we hold fast, though what we hope for remains out of sight.
So how do we accomplish this? For starters, just let go. Let go of the negative thoughts – picture them as a lead weights in a backpack that you are just going to drop on the ground and leave. Then focus on Jesus and keep your focus on Him. The author of Hebrews puts it this way:
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2
The good news? Jesus both starts and finishes our faith! All we need to do is let go and run to him.